Language change caught in the act: A case study of Frisian relative pronouns

Jelske Dijkstra, Wilbert Heeringa, Emre Yılmaz, Henk van den Heuvel, David van Leeuwen, Hans Van de Velde

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

This study investigates language change in Frisian relative pronouns in a corpus of Frisian radio broadcasts (1966–2015). In spite of the limitations of this corpus, we were able to catch language change in the act. The analyses show that until the 1980s the younger speakers in these broadcasts lead the rise of t-full relative pronouns, a change that was first observed in literature at the end of the 19th century. From the 1980s onwards the new younger generation reversed this change and increasingly started using the t-less relative pronouns. Additionally, the increase of t-less forms occurred mostly in non-scripted, spontaneous speech. It does not seem to play a role whether the speaker is a presenter or an interviewee/guest.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationLanguage Variation - European Perspectives VII
Subtitle of host publicationSelected papers from the Ninth International Conference on Language Variation in Europe (ICLaVE 9), Malaga, June 2017
EditorsJuan-Andrés Villena-Ponsoda, Francisco Díaz-Montesinos, Antonio-Manuel Ávila-Muãoz, Matilde Vida-Castro
PublisherJohn Benjamin Publishing Company
Chapter5
Pages86-101
ISBN (Electronic)9789027262073
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Dec 2019
Externally publishedYes

Publication series

NameStudies in Language Variation
Volume22

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Language change caught in the act: A case study of Frisian relative pronouns'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this